Jesse Manton (MBA 2014) is sharing lessons learned in private equity with MBA students
Jesse Manton’s journey to the private equity industry wasn’t always the smoothest trek. The destination wasn’t clear, the path to get there sometimes blurry. It took a summer in Alaska, a sabbatical during the COVID-19 pandemic and a bit of luck to help him find his landing spot.
Now, the Daniels College of Business alumnus is motivated to share his knowledge with budding business leaders through mentorship. Manton is part of a larger mentorship effort created by the Daniels MBA team. In the fall quarter, the MBA team created 80 connections between members of its alumni network and current students. The team matched students with expert mentors from a variety of industries and with various levels of experience, creating relationships that helped advance students’ careers. Manton wants students to know that the career expedition is teeming with uncertainty—and that’s alright.
As an undergrad at another university, Manton was originally interested in creative writing and philosophy, with little regard for the business world. A summer trip two years into school altered his perspective.
He worked with a small yurt business in Alaska, helping streamline the company’s factory operations. Quickly, he developed his own complementary business, building the platforms for these yurts to sit on. When he returned to Colorado that fall, Manton’s eyes were set on business.
He changed his major to economics, making the switch during perhaps the most dire and terrifying time for the financial sector: the 2008 financial collapse.
“I spent the next two years really learning economics through the lens of that crisis,” he said. He was compelled by the industry and wanted to be a part of it, but wasn’t sure how he’d get his foot in the door. He didn’t feel supported by mentorship at his undergraduate university and landed his first job at Brown Brothers Harriman through a stroke of luck.
“They found my name and number in a resume book,” Manton said with a chuckle.
That fortuitous opportunity would set up the next decade of his career. He’d move through various financial roles at real estate investment firms, mixing in in a Daniels Professional MBA degree in 2014.
A decade after he graduated from the College, Manton has become an important resource for Daniels students interested in the private equity space. He’s served as a mentor for four current MBA students, offering tips and tricks for how to break into the industry. It’s the mentorship that he feels he missed out on during his own college career.
“My mission these days is to tell my story and help younger people gain the skillset and know what the recruiting process looks like [for private equity],” he said. “I just didn’t have anybody telling me these things.”
Manton was especially keen on sharing the trials and tribulations that come with finding the right job. In the midst of his career and at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, he took a step back. He quit his job, moved all his belongings into a storage container and struck out on the road. After six months of touring national parks on the western half of the country, Manton returned to the workforce with a newfound energy. Shortly thereafter, he landed at Ares Management Corporation in a portfolio management role. He calls it his “dream job,” but reminds students that it took time to find it.
“I think just hearing my story, getting into the details of my struggles and what I could have done better [has been helpful],” he said of his conversations with mentees. “The feedback has been great.”
In addition to sharing his advice for standing out in the private equity industry, Manton wants to give his mentees a real look into the nitty gritty details of the industry.
“People are just thankful to have somebody that wants to take the time and share their experience. Also, to tell them the dirty stuff, the hard things that nobody else wants to tell them. It’s not all sunshine and roses out here,” he said.
In addition to mentorship with Daniels MBA students, Manton has returned to campus as a guest speaker in classes and at a Real Estate and Construction Management Club event. He loves giving back and building his bench of potential hires for the future. It’s also reminded him of the importance of mentorship in his own career.
“I can’t understate the value of those connections,” he said. “This has been a good motivator for me to get meetings and lunches with partners, managing directors and people above me in the industry.”
Jesse Manton is a living legend!